Daystar turned an approving gaze onto Jackdaw. “Well now. Your intel checked out after all. Looks like I chose right by letting you lead the patrol.”
“Impressive fighter too, I must say. We could always use more of those,” Ottersplash added. His pelt was clearly ruffled from the skirmish, and light scratches lay on his cheek, but his blue eyes were still bright with fight fervor.
Jackdaw, though secretly bashful from the praise, merely shrugged. “I only did what I thought was right. They’ve been harassing cats in this region for far too long.”
“And working alongside Floodclan was only logical, I take it,” Ghostmire mewed. The older tom regarded Jackdaw with a scrutinizing look as he sat on Daystar’s left.
Jackdaw merely blinked, refusing to be intimidated. “Yes, sure. But your clan has been nothing but kind to me as well. You certainly didn’t have to open your home to me and allow me shelter.”
It seemed to be the right thing to say because the old tom’s gaze softened with approval as well. “And we would never require you to fight our battles with us, yet you offered to do so anyway.”
Jackdaw’s thoughts flitted back to the fight, and a spark of joy lit in his chest as he nodded respectfully. “I would gladly do so again,” his maw then drifted into a soft smile, “Fighting with you all… it’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”
“It’s called having each other’s backs,” a new form padded into the overhang, and Jackdaw nodded his head as Peppersky stopped to lay her thin tail on his shoulder. The older she-cat smirked knowingly. “A lot of us were former rogues at one point, and had to face enemies alone. Once you know what it’s like to know someone’s watching out for you in battle… it’s hard to go back.”
The she-cat turned her smirk onto the assembled conclave. “See, what did I tell you? Not even a half moon in camp and he’s already showing us what he’s made of. I’d sooner eat my tail than not instate him as a full clan member.”
“Why wait then? I see no reason to delay his induction.” Jackdaw’s eyes widened as he whipped his head around to the bright gold eyes sparkling with amusement. A hint of a smile played on Lightningsong’s lips, but the thick striped tail curled in a hook above his back belied his true mood. One of happiness. “He readily came to the defense of anyone who needed him. Including my son.”
Just as Jackdaw thought he might go faint from happiness at the recognition, Ottersplash and Peppersky let out two groans at the comment. Ghostmire shook his head in fond exasperation. Daystar, ever the unflappable one, merely raised a brow at his deputy. Peppersky rolled her eyes at Lightningsong. “Always back to Sunpaw with you, huh?”
“My pride and joy, you mean,” Lightningsong sniffed, and Daystar laughed under his breath. Jackdaw merely watched the banter with surprise as he thought back to the battle. That small cat he helped fight back the rogue with was the deputy’s son?!
“You mean like how the entire clan is meant to be your pride and joy, Lightningsong?” Daystar drawled.
“Eh, well. Some more than others,” Lightningsong shrugged.
Ghostmire sighed. “Thank the stars you didn’t rub off too much onto that child, Lightningsong. Otherwise his head might swell as big as yours."
“Oh hush, Ghostmire. Besides, we need to get back to the matter at paw!” Lightningsong trained his gaze back onto Jackdaw, and the dark tabby felt himself straighten unconsciously in an effort to impress. “Like I said, we should bring him into the clan. But, it is your call, dearest,” Lightningsong turned his gaze back on Daystar as he said that, tail curling expectantly.
Daystar cracked the first smile Jackdaw had ever seen from the curiously stoic leader, but Jackdaw could tell that the leader tried to reign it in at first, but gave up with a sigh and closed his eyes in brief thought. When his eyes flashed open again, His dark green gaze pinned Jackdaw in place, but the leader only had words for his deputy. “Oh no Lightningsong, this is your call.” Jackdaw had to consciously remind himself to take a breath, but thankfully the weight of the leader’s gaze lessened as his mood shifted to something more benign. Daystar spoke again. “He should go through the same process as anyone else in the clan, but with such unanimous approval I’d like to remain the neutral party for now. If all of you like him, then I see no reason to object to hurrying along the process.”
Everyone under the overhang visibly brightened at the go-ahead. Peppersky’s tail slid off Jackdaw’s shoulder as she turned to the young rogue, and her tail was replaced by Lightningsong’s heavier one as the broad-shouldered tom purred. Jackdaw felt a rare bloom of joy under his pelt at the tactility, and for once he readily welcomed it.
“But, before any of you leave.” Daystar called out. That seemed to stop everyone in their tracks as they all turned to face Daystar. Jackdaw surprised himself by giving into the pull as well. Though small in height, his presence was like a beacon as he spoke again, this time directly to Jackdaw. “Lightningsong and I have been talking these past few hours about giving you an apprentice, Jackdaw. The way you outlined the battle formation to everyone in the patrol I had you lead was ingenious, and frankly something we all could benefit from.”
Both Ottersplash and Ghostmire looked at Jackdaw again, but this time their gazes shown with impressed surprise. Feeling like he was missing something, Jackdaw’s tail flicked nervously as he tilted his head. “So you want me to train up a kit and teach them strategy?”
Daystar merely hummed. “Not quite. There’s an apprentice who just passed his preliminary tests under a different mentor, so there’s no need to teach him the basics. Even though he really shouldn’t,” Daystar leveled an accusing glare onto his deputy at that, but Lightningsong only looked innocently back at the leader, Jackdaw noted, “this apprentice is also as knowledgeable about the innerworkings of the clan as anyone else under this tree, so he knows best how to implement your knowledge into future teaching methods. He has the added benefit of not having multiple other jobs to do, so he can focus his attention on learning from you. And hopefully, you can learn from him as well.”
Jackdaw frowned. He had been within Floodclan’s camp long enough to learn what it meant to teach a cat already finished with their preliminary trials. Daystar was asking him to train up a cat into a specialty. A cat that probably wasn’t even that far from him in age. “And what happens after I finish teaching this apprentice? Does he know I’m becoming his mentor?”
“He actually volunteered,” Lightningsong mewed, and Jackdaw’s ears perked in surprise. “He cut short his diplomat training to do this, so we trust that he’s serious about learning from you. He’ll be as attentive as any of our other apprentices, if you’re worried about his personal commitment.” Lightningsong turned a questioning look onto Jackdaw. “Should you choose to accept, hopefully we won’t have to worry about your commitment, either.”
Jackdaw felt his ears prickle nervously, but he tried not to give any tells. He’d be dumb to pass up this offer right after being accepted into the clan, but. Wow. An apprentice already. “I would be honored, but who is the tom I’ll be training?”
Lightningsong smirked. “Sunpaw, my former apprentice.”
Jackdaw’s tail froze in place. The deputy’s son. And they were entrusting him to Jackdaw.
“With what you’ve shown us in the battle, it shouldn’t be too difficult!” Lightningsong chirped. Somehow, the deputy’s tail on his shoulder abruptly became heavier, almost like a warning. “I do hope you won’t disappoint him.” Lightningsong’s eyes narrowed in happiness. Or in menace, Jackdaw couldn’t tell. Jackdaw only nodded.
“Come now, I’ll take you to him!” Lightningsong mewed.
Jackdaw looked around. He wasn’t sure if it was a vain attempt to be rescued or not. The knowing look in everyone’s eyes just made him paws prickle with sweat. Daystar’s eyes seemed to sparkle with amusement as if sensing his low-level fear. But, the leader would be no help today, and so Daystar simply mewed, “Meeting dismissed!”
Lightningsong guided him away from the overhang. Jackdaw couldn’t help but think he had just stumbled upon a bed of thorns, and would have to tread lightly.
————————————
“I’m 17 moons old.”
Jackdaw blinked at the comment. The two were sitting at the camp entrance, and Jackdaw had no trouble looking down at Sunpaw. The tom was… well, he definitely didn’t look to be only a moon younger than Jackdaw. The prior battle must've skewed Jackdaw's initial view of the tom, but even now Sunpaw only looked large enough to be a young apprentice, if that. Was he really 17 moons old?
It was the day after one of the weirdest meetings Jackdaw felt he would ever have with Floodclan’s conclave. They seemed more than welcome to make him a member, but damn…
The undertone of that meeting sent some mixed signals.
Jackdaw spoke again. “So uh, do you wish to start now, Sunpaw? I’m prepared to teach you everything I know.”
The golden tom merely raised a brow, blinked and then stood up from where he was sitting. “Alright, I’m gonna stop you right there before you get ahead of yourself. No need to be formal with me, Jackdaw. You’re my clanmate, not a business partner.” Sunpaw’s maw twitched into a smile as Jackdaw opened his mouth again, and the golden cat mewed. “And before you ask, no, I have no issue with training under you, regardless of your age.”
Jackdaw’s shoulder’s sagged in relief. “Thank the stars. Hope you don’t mind me saying that I want this to go well. Your father is… surprisingly intense.”
Sunpaw only rolled his eyes sheepishly. “Don't mind him too much. He just… has alotta love to go around, is all. Protective, you know? On his behalf, I’m sorry if he was a bit… much.”
Jackdaw snorted. “I feel like I barely scratched the surface with him.”
Sunpaw laughed under his breath. “I wish I could say otherwise about that observation, but yeah, that sounds like Lightningsong.”
Jackdaw laughed as well, but it died out when Sunpaw beckoned Jackdaw with his tail. Great stars, it was a novel thing, feeling this nervous after moons spent on his own. “Come on, let’s take this outside camp, before everyone starts to really wake up.”
{1,787}
